Archive for the ‘World current affairs’ Category
Which is the best country in the world in which to be born?
December 10th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Well, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit which has looked at 11 indicators for 80 nations, it is not my country: the United Kingdom. This comes in at a mere 27th. Top nation is Switzerland which arguably is a pretty boring place to live. Eight of the top 10 are small countries which is telling. […]
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Will America remain the overwhelmingly dominant superpower throughout the whole of the 21st century?
December 1st, 2012 by Roger Darlington
American military expert George Friedman is sure that it will and sets out his case in a fascinating book called “The Next 100 Years”. I am not so convinced as explained in my review of the book here.
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“Inside, I’m screaming” – or another view of the Chinese ‘miracle’
November 25th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
There is quite a lot on my web site about China because I have visited the country three times and read several books about the subject. In many ways, the economic developments of the last three decades have been amazing and hundreds of millions of Chinese citizens have been lifted out of poverty. But more […]
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16 segments of European states that threaten to break away – or have already effectively done so
November 23rd, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Some people thought that the European Union project would dampen down pressures for bits of European nation states to seek secession. The idea was that we would have a ‘Europe of the regions’ with citizens less concerned about which country they beloged to. It hasn’t happened like that. In EU nations both large and small, […]
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How shale gas will massively impact the world of geopolitics
November 16th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Ever since the end of the Second World War when the United States emerged as the pre-eminent world power, one of the givens of geopolitics has been that the American economy – the world’s largest – was substantially dependent on energy imports, largely from the Middle East. This has required the US to support authoritarian […]
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Can China sustain its rate of growth and will it really become a superpower?
November 15th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
This week, the Chinese Communist Party is holding its 18th National Congress to make a once in a decade change in its leadership. This has led much of the media to highlight the expectation that in a few years China will become the largest economy in the world and to speculate about whether China is […]
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The bombing in Beirut
October 20th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
The assassination of Major General Wissam al-Hassan, head of the police intelligence unit in Lebanon, by a car bomb in Beirut is both a personal and a political tragedy. Eight people were killed and many others injured, while the attack will threaten the stability of the government and the country, reviving fears of a return […]
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Julia Gillard attacks misogyny in Australian politics
October 13th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
It needed to be said – and she said it wonderfully:
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The bloodiest ongoing conflict of which you’ve never heard
October 8th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Over the last 40 years, the insurrection has killed more than 120,000 people and displaced around 2 million. It is led by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in The Philippines. The good news is that it might be about to be resolved, as reported here.
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Is it possible to escape North Korea across the demilitarised zone?
October 6th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
It is incredibly difficult because about a million soldiers and a million land mines line the Demilitarised Zone – but this week one North Korean soldier did it as explained here. North Korea is one of the most secretive nations on earth but we know that most of its citizens have a subsistence existence. Aid agencies have […]
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